After reading some of these reviews I was a little skeptical about ordering a Lowrance HDS 12 Live. They were a a little cheaper than anyone else so I pulled the trigger and ordered. I was expecting to get a call, as other reviewers have stated, wanting more money or something. I did get a call the very next morning just to confirm my shipping address. The one that called was very friendly. After I confirmed my shipping address he stated he just wanted to make sure everything was correct before shipping. Right after that I got a shipping confirmation and 4 days later my package arrived. Once I found out that this is a brick and mortar type of store I was not too worried about my order. It is the online only retailers you really need to worry about. I am very pleased with my order and how smoothly the transaction went. I think they now have a new happy customer. I will be back for sure. read more

Always appreciated having Defender Marine as a supplier. I've only been purchasing from them for 3 years but they've always been great. But now, I can't even access their website. Doesn't matter what computer I use, it says I've been blocked. As another reviewer said, I understand that things can happen temporarily. But this has been going on for a while. When I finally got through to them over the phone, the customer service rep asked me to hold on while she got some info from me. Then immediately put me through to the recorded survey asking me how likely I was to recommend Defender. Talk about being tone-deaf. Had to go elsewhere for my needs and Hamilton in Maine was happy to have my business. read more

Defender Marine - Outlet Stores Near Me - Waterford, Connecticut

I have been a loyal customer for years. And have usually had good service, prices and fast delivery even after they changed to a very awkward new website. But a few weeks ago I went to their website and it said I was blocked. I called, waited on hold for a long time and was told they were having trouble with their server and it would be sorted soon. I can understand having technical issues. But it's now been a couple weeks, I'm still blocked, can't get through to their website on my phone or computer, and I've called several times and they say they're working on it and they haven't found the problem yet. After weeks, they haven't found the problem?? So currently, they are providing no website, no service, no answers, no help. The people on the phone are increasingly impatient with my frustration. I won't say they've been rude exactly, but I've never heard anyone say "I apologize SIR" with such venom. read more

Horrible. I called 100 times with no answer. I was told I was going to be given a discount over the phone and when I called back they acted as if they had no clue what i was talking about. The WEBSITE sucks. I tried ordering and it will not let me pay. Waste of my time. Must go somewhere else. Defender I thought you would be better then that in a world where people like to spend money to fix there boat but it seems you really dont care. read more

An hour of struggling to order two minor parts, I eventually threw up my hands and walked away. Multiple sign-ins needed, endless address re-entries, and my payment information caused a transaction failure. It was like being a computer in the 1980s except without the howling noise in the background. read more

Saw this review from a few years ago. The Canadians appear to be listening to the local staff and quite a few improvements have been made. Several of the old staff have hung on, and though you cannot count on the best price reputation of old, they have apparently made an effort to be a bit more price competitive (still pays to shop around on big ticket items). The saving grace is that the legacy staff still do their level best to take care of the in store retail customers. They are the primary reason i never gave up on the place. I upgraded my rating as a matter of fairness to the frontline staff that make shopping at Defender worth the trip. read more

comparing prices between Defender and West Marine. Noticed that West Marine is cheaper for the same product, never saw that coming. Not what it use to be. read more

Customer service is horrible! I tried to order a Raymarine part that Defender did not stock. Defender ask me to call Raymarine to see if they stocked it. I called and Raymarine stocked it. I called Defender back to order and have it shipped overnight. I called 3 times within 8 days before they told me they can't get the part. They never called me to let me know. Horrible service. read more

Defender Marine - Me Waiting for parts that will never show. - Outlet Stores Near Me - Waterford, Connecticut

Still my go to source for all things boats, but really miss rummaging through the clearance area, used to be great fun.

I placed an order for Tohatsu 4-stroke oil and a filter on 7/11/2025. Today, I just received an email from Defender telling me I needed to contact them because they couldn't process my payment. By the time I get the order, my engine hours will be past the required time for an oil change. It's a new engine and I don't want to do anything that would screw up my warranty. I just called them and the woman I spoke with was kind of short to deal with, although she did cancel my order when I asked her to and I received an confirmation email right away. I won't be ordering anything from Defender again. read more

I have been a customer for 15 years, and was previously very satisfied. Recently, their service has slipped. Orders that used to go out the same day no longer do. This Monday morning I placed an online order for some custom length lines and a head repair kit. All were listed as "in stock." I paid for overnight delivery in order to make sure I received the lines in time for racing on Friday. As of Wednesday morning, when I checked online the order was still listed as "in processing". So I called Defender. I was told that the order for the lines had been held up by the head repair kit, which was not in fact in stock. You would think when a customer orders several hundred dollars worth of custom length lines and pays for overnight shipping that at least the in stock items would be shipped immediately. At a minimum, someone might have reached out to see if I would like to split the order. Defender said they would split the order and get the lines out today, but had I not called them after two days to inquire, the lines would not have been shipped for at least 4 or 5 days and would not have reached me in time to use this weekend - rendering my overnight shipment charge meaningless. This is not the kind of service I previously experienced. read more

The new retail area is awful. They gave away their square foot advantage over Westmarine with a smaller area. Less items to shop. Everything appears outback. There is only one station to order from. I had a lengthy wait to get my items. Three people had to be involved for my sale. Takes way too long over the old store. Defender is a last means of resort. I will only use them to save on shipping for whatever I cannot get from Amazon. Meanwhile Defender has lost about a thousand dollars in material to commission my boat this spring. PS. I needed four items. One was out of stock. One was the wrong size. The other two were what I needed. What a pain to correct the wrong size! read more

I am quite disappointed in Defender Marine. I purchased a cooktop and paid with my credit card. Soon after I received an e!mail stating they were charging me $3.00 and to contact them with the amount off my bank statement. This all seemed a bit suspicious, but I replied to the email with the amount I paid. I later found out that they canceled my order because did not respondvinvthe correct way. You know, disappointed is the wrong word I am furious! read more

Purchased a new YL400DL Zodiac from Defender about six weeks ago. Paid $500 for them to deliver the $28,000 inflatable to Wareham , Ma. They showed up an hour and a half late. They had assured me that at least a half a tank of gas would be in the tank, plenty so that I could navigate the boat to my mooring. The tank was essentially empty and I ran out of gas. Paddled home. After only five weeks most all the snaps holding down cushions had green tarnish and broken off the hull. Rust was streaking on the hull from under the cleats and lifting tabs. The bow cushion material holding the snaps had come undone the first week the boat was used. Terrible design flaw and inferior hardware abounds in this boat. I approached Defender and they offered to send a bag of new snaps that I could install myself or they gave me an option to drive the boat to CT and they would install them. Clearly the last thing I need is to install the same inferior snaps that did not last five weeks. They also sent a link on maintaining stainless hardware. Bottom line, Defender is not reliable, does not back their product and is about as bad as can get with customer relations. Zodiac, at one time made a quality product. Clearly not anymore. Be warned of the product and distributer. read more

We have always had a commercial account when Steve Lance owned it. Spent an easy 8-12 g a year there. Called two weeks ago to make sure account still active with new owners. Snotty person on phone said "account numbers mean nothing, all gone" I said how about company name? "Yeah thats how we do it now". Give name, they say" no such account". Come to fund out they could not spell and eventually said, "oh yeah, you still have a commercial account". Fast forward to today: go in with a list of 8 item that all say "in stock". Very nice guys at check in I recognized from old management, laughed hard when I said it show, "in stock"! 4 were, the 4 I needed most, hahahaha. Order, look around completely pathetic, awful, sterile, showroom, while waiting. No line room, no scratch and dent room, no boating center, no electronics counter with help etc etc. So get up to register, tell them name of company, nobody there cane spell either. Thames, like Thames river not that hard to spell, and if your not sure ask. So she rings me up, (btw, she was super nice), and I say, "that seems high, why is there no screen I can see, IE West Marine. Anywho no discount, and taxes charged. I ask whats up, she says " oh you have to fill out the whole application process again, only name of business carried through". You know that great little business in your town that was around for years, then the New York person comes in and buys it and runs it into the ground in 6 months? Lol Genius on this "makeover" must be related to Bud Light marketing person. Steve Lance, you were a great guy, they ruined all your hard work. read more

like many people who previoulsy commented, I have literally spent tens of thousands of dollars at Defender. I haven't been inside the store in 2 years. I have to admit: I was shocked. the cool large warehouse display is gone. It's like any ordinary boat store with limited displays of just about everything(or in this case nothing). I will NEVER go back there (and I used to drive 3 hours go shopping there I loved it so much). An example of limited supply might be teak wood. perhaps are switched to a virtual store but it's DEF not worth going to. Bummer... read more

We have been coming to Defender for years - today was our last time . We had a mercury outboard under warranty- they told us it was a fuel issue which voided the warranty. We paid for the repair when we picked the motor up from the shop the mechanics told us it was not a fuel issue - We.spoke to the manager who was combative, contradictory and rude . Like many other reviews state Defender has gone so far down hill - like them we will never return read more

Defender used to be my go to place for all my boating supplies other then engine parts that they didn't stock. Loved the warehouse store and the Spring Sale. Since the change, I hate going to defender. Yes prices have risen but they're still competitive with West Marine. The higher prices are not why I HATE going to defender, the retail store is PAINFUL. EVERYTHING about it SUCKS from the lack of inventory on display, disinterested employees and the AGONIZINGLY SLOW CHECK OUT PROCESS. My sweet oldest Daughter has bought me a gift certificates at defender for Christmas, my Birthday and Father's Day for many years and I always appreciated it. Since the reinvention of defender, I actually dread getting those gift certificates because it means that I have to deal with that place. Today I had a return on a $17 item, the woman working the desk had to bounce back and forth between 2 computers and the process took at least 15minutes. Supposedly my refund, which must go back on a gift card will be emailed to me some time next week. So much for progress, the same transaction anywhere else in the universe , in the year of our Lord 2024 is not even a 5 minute process and the refund is processed instantly. I'm thinking of how I want to handle the conversation with my Daughter, Father's Day approaches and she will be over with a card that will have a defender gift certificate in it, I don't want another gift certificate to that place. I don't want to have to buy anything from defender ever again in my life. I don't want to hurt my Daughter's feelings but honestly I don't want her to waste her hard earned money buying me another gift certificate to defender, I hate going there so much, I don't want to step foot in that store even with free money to spend. Dreadful..... read more

I was trying to figure out how a marine supply store could have such a bad (2-star) rating prior to my purchase. However, it now totally makes sense. There customer service is terrible at best. Non-existent really. I ordered a helm kit that didn't ship all the parts. No big deal I'll reach out. FIVE days later I heard back from customer service. They received word from dometic warranty that they were shipping the rest of the parts. Wrong parts show up. I reach out again on April 6th. THREE days later I get a reply to which I respond with detailed pictures of what was not presented. Here we are again days later with no reply. I've now had a boat sitting for weeks and zero sense of urgency or CS. Highly recommend looking elsewhere. Customer concerns are clearly zero priority read more

We purchased an Achilles HB300-FX from Defender less than a year ago and the front grab handle is now ripping off. Since Defender is the dealer, we were required to submit a claim through their new "inflatables department." They immediately blamed us for the damage and denied the warranty claim. When we provided additional evidence showing that we had not caused the damage, they doubled down. I would not recommend purchasing anything from Defender. read more

Hottest week of the year and No air conditioning in the store or warehouse. Horrible working conditions for employees. If the owner is too cheap to create a decent work environment for employees, they should close during the summer when it was almost 100 degrees in the store. Felt bad for the employees under those conditions- left the store due to unhealthy environment to shop and disgusted with lack of concern for employees by owners. read more

"Dave" in Customer Service seemed very aloof and slightly irritated at my questioning of a $313 freight charge for an ice maker. He pulled up my order and said "so, do you have a question?". I asked where it was been shipped from and he said it had to be shipped by 18 wheeler. I asked why it couldn't be shipped by UPS and he said they have too many damaged items. I asked if that was a Defender policy and he said no it is a Vitrifigo (manufacturer) policy. Cancelled the order. Not sure how the cost of prior damaged items should be my responsibility. Isn't there some carrier responsibility for damage?Life's too short. I'll buy it from somewhere else. Hopefully not for $313 shipping . read more

Customer service not what it used to be! No effort to match West Marine Port Supply even for 40 year customer. Not for me anymore. I'llstick with West Marine read more

Ordered keel blocks for $190. Site said free shipping over 100$. Days later customer service called and wanted to negotiate a $190 shipping surcharge. Very deceptive sales. Canceled and ordered from West Marine instead. read more

Ordered a part next day Air on a Friday. Called on Saturday and still no tracking number and wouldn't let me cancel. Said next day would be business day so Monday. Said policy was on the website which I looked, nothing about business days on site. I'll never use this company again. Shady service and customer service that outright lies. read more

My girlfriend wanted to get a gift card for my husband. They would not sell one at the store. She tried to purchase one online and failed. She got us a West Marine card instead. read more

Defender used to be my go to store for all of my boat and marine purchases. That has changed. For three days in a row they have not been able to give me any information about my request to order a $1000 dual system water pump for my boat. Never a call back. Never any follow up. When I questioned why I hadn't heard back, the representative said, "oh yes, here's your information. We've been very busy. I haven't been able to call the vendor yet.". Not a problem. I've been able to buy it from Boat Owners Warehouse in one phone call. read more

Very disappointed in their response to the recent hack where customer data including credit cards was stolen. All we got was an email and a letter from their 3rd part vendor who they have hired to "handle" this for them. They state in the letter that "Defender has no evidence" that any information from this attack has been misused. Well, I'll give you evidence--over $600 worth of fraudulent charges to my credit card before it was shut down by our bank. Waiting for my new card to arrive now so I can change all of the recurring payments that were on it. How about compensation for my time due to you not even encrypting our credit card info? My other issue (even before this lack of regard for how they protect customer data) was in their shipping rates in the past year. I ordered three small items (over $100) this spring which weighed 2.1 pounds in total. No special handling required. I looked up the UPS retail charges (no a contracted rate which would be far less for Defender) from their zip code to mine and threw in extra insurance, too. Total amount was $12.74. Defender charged me $30.56 for standard UPS ground shipping! Wow! 2.1 pounds for $30.56! I could have had Uber drive it over for that money and bring me a sandwich, too. The worst part was that I reached out to customer service via their website about this and heard back absolutely nothing. Crickets. The takeaway from both of these incidents... Defender could care less. read more

You're not getting my business because of your website. I will not accept cookies from your site. Secondly I work on many boats and the owners keep their receipts so I don't want to make an account just for a one time purchase. I'm not the only person who won't use your site for this reason. read more

This place is a shell of it's former self. The defender guy said they are doing 80/20. It basically means they only put 20% on the floor because the rest doesn't sell as fast and in a smug like way he said and I quote" the older people don't like it because they like to browse stuff" but welcome to the future. I'm 52 and obviously he was subtly talking about my age group. The people buying defender products tend to be in my age group from what I've seen or at least spending their money. This place will be my last go to. read more

made my order, played their games, waited on hold and even got an email response; however, what I didn't get was my order. I ordered, paid and now have nothing except hatred for this place. bad bad and worse than bad! read more

Defender Marine - enjoy your boats but buy from West Marine. - Outlet Stores Near Me - Waterford, Connecticut

An update...after the initial complaint Dayna reached out to me, apologized and explained the persons we talked to was new and that is not how they handle customer complaints/issues. She coordinated to have a new pump sent out immediately...and it worked! I will definitely be buying from this company again and will recommend it to others. If the initial phone call doesn't get the response you're looking for, send an email to customer service. They will respond quickly and work with you to resolve your problem. read more

The place has many cool stuff but way too overpriced. When I had about 300 dollars worth of merchandise in my hand I was told to get a basket and not leave items on counter because God forbid I wanted get more crap. Then when I asked for info on specific items I was told to have someone make it by some very tired and nice old men. Not to mention the tattooed 14 year old front desk chick who was too busy giving me attitude on buying the useless merchandise and totally being a bitch about telling me what is going on sale the next day. So I drop the garbage and walked out. My advise Defender management, retrain or evaluate your workers having contact with the public because u just lost hundreds on me and not to mention thousands of dollars lost total on others who are treated like assholes by your staff. Thanks but no thanks. I can buy this stuff cheaper online anyway. read more

I had two experiences at Defender that happened pretty much at the same time over the course of a few days as I had to deal with customer service and management for one transaction and sales for the other. Experience 1: I bought an ice maker that did not work properly from day one. The cubes are small, thin and melt almost immediately after being taken out of the bin. There answer was if it makes ice it's not defective and we will not return it. What kind of a company won't take a return on a defective product ?!?!? I'm not even sure if it's legal but I will be calling my credit card today company to see if they can help. Experience 2: As I was walking in to the store there was a lady walking out complaining how rude they were to her, it soon became clear why, every single person I had contact with had an attitude we me also. They made me feel like I was bothering them because I wanted to spend money in their store. I was there to buy an almost $30k inflatable boat and had to leave because no one would even talk to me without an appointment, even with them knowing I drove over an hour and half to see them. I told them right out I'm not here to talk about it I simply want to pay for it and go, their exact words were "Nope I don't have time for you, go home and send an email for an appointment". I've never seen a company act like that, I left amazed. I understand there are company policies and I have no problem following them but does that mean you can't make an exception for your customers that don't know your policies ?!?!? Is it right to treat a customer like that and turn them away ?!?!?!? read more

Over the last 6 yrs I've purchased thousands of dollars of products from Defender, including basic supplies as well as a boat and have found their service to be tremendous and their pricing fair. But, they've really let me down this week after being notified their online payment platform had been affected by malware and my payment card info had been compromised. My card was hacked the day prior to receiving their May 21, 2021 letter so it was easy to make sense of my troubles. Fortunately, USAA was able to stop/reverse the charge and issue a new card. We are still going thru the process of reloading the new card so our auto payments for prescriptions, etc will be made on time. The disappointing part of all this is Defender's position to not offer affected customers a year of monitoring to help assure they won't be impacted after having names, addresses, credit card information, and email addresses compromised. Instead Defender has recommended we "review our account statements and notify law enforcement of suspicious activity..." Seriously, they've lost my faith and won't get to see my new credit card..Ever! read more

Spring sale very disappointing. A small fraction of the old Spring warehouse sale with limited inventory and minimal vendor reps. Certainly my last trip to Defender. read more

Defender Marine used to be the gold standard. They have now become one of the worst marine suppliers I have ever dealt with. Their customer service staff is downright rude and surly. What you can now expect is zero accountability on their part. The last two times I ordered from them it took WEEKS for them to ship my order despite numerous phone calls. This was not a shipping company issue it was a Defender issue. I was lied to repeatedly, being told that the order was ready and would ship the next day. I would wait two to three days and call again only to be told the same thing. Today was the last straw and I have cancelled my order of nearly 3k. Never again. read more

I bought a Webasto Basics 20 gallon water heater in September of 2018, installed it a few months later. Right away it had a small, pinhole water leak in a weld. The overheat tripped constantly. The upgraded element kit didn't include the gaskets. Defender was slow to respond, but they did get my missing gaskets for me. When I replaced/upgraded the element, I discovered that my heater was manufactured 5 years before I bought it...YES, 5 years! Then I discovered rust on the original element connections. Defenders response, contact Webasto. Webasto's response, crickets. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Stay away from Defender and Webasto. Webasto products are junk (I also have a Webasto diesel heater that craps out way more than it should). And Defender appears to get their products from closeout/liquidations, hence why their prices are cheap - but they pass off the products as "new" because, technically a 5 year old product that may not have been used, just sitting around rusting, is "new" to them. read more

See all

In over 40 years, I never had a bad experience with Defender going back to the store in New Rochelle which my wife and I would joke was a $100 toll on RT. 95. That was in the 1970's, today we joke it is a $500 toll on RT.95. It's eyewatering to think how much has been spent in all those years. Unfortunately today was an exception. When my windlass quit while cruising in Maine, Lewmar tech support thought the motor would have be replaced and had only one in stock. I ordered the motor to ensure the repair when I returned. It had to be ordered from Defender as Lewmar could not sell directly. When I returned the motor was repairable and I contacted Defender to return a $700 motor. Defender refused to take the return even though I offered to pay the restocking fee as described in their return policy. I also offered to cover any restocking fee Lewmar might charge (Lewmar confirmed they would take it back). Jason at Defender explained taking a return on a special order is a labor intensive process. I then offered to pay whatever they wanted up to $400. In a very polite and professional way Jason told me I was screwed. Unfortunately this has left a bad taste in my mouth and a big dent in my wallet. I do carry spares but have no need for an already reliable windlass motor. read more

Went there to buy an outboard motor. A very rude guy told me that I can't see them. They store them in their warehouse. My only option was to go online, select the motor and he would bring it out. I asked to use a computer, I was told it was for employees only. Asked if I could bring my laptop from my car and connect to their wifi. I was told that they do not allow customers to use their wifi. How do they expect me to but $10,000 worth of outboard motors without even looking at them. read more